LPC-Permira Debt Managers raises third direct lending fund at €2.1bn

LONDON, June 19 (Reuters) - Permira Debt Managers, the debt management and advisory arm of Permira, has raised a third direct lending fund totalling €2.1bn, it announced on Monday.

It reached a final close raising commitments of around €1.7bn from pension funds, insurance companies and family offices across Europe, North America, Asia, Australia and the Middle East. Over half of the investors are new relationships and with leverage, the fund will total €2.1bn.

It will invest predominately in primary, senior secured loans to mid-market companies, both sponsor and non-sponsor backed and has so far deployed €660m in nine companies, since its first close in December 2016, including a £375m loan in April to UK private members’ club Soho House, PDM’s largest ever direct lending investment.

PDM’s previous direct lending fund, PCS2, closed at around €800m in 2015 and is currently over 95% invested. Since inception, the fund has invested in 30 companies -- seven of which have been fully realised.

Direct lenders have grown rapidly since the financial crisis in a bid to fill a liquidity gap from the reduction in traditional sources of debt.

PDM has expanded its team hiring six people in 2017 so far, taking the total team size to over 30.

“We continue to see a strong opportunity in Europe where traditional sources of debt capital have tightened and we have made significant investments in our team to ensure we find attractive businesses to back.” James Greenwood, PDM CEO said.